Raising Harry
by darkwolf76
Summary: Juniper is serving as the healer in the original Order of Phoenix during the First Wizarding War. Times are dark, but as long as she has her family, she can face anything. Then, on a mission in July of 1981, she's attacked. When she wakes up she finds that the war is over, but its effects on her life leave her facing a set of new challenges, including raising her nephew Harry.
1. The Day It all Came Crashing Down

**AN: Hello! Thank you for choosing to check this story out! I'm darkwolf76, and while I'm no stranger to the Harry Potter fandom, I'm a new author. I apologize in advance for any and all grammatical and spelling mistakes I've made. I do not make any claim to the characters or content of Harry Potter. **

The first thing Juniper remembered when she woke up was the pain. She felt as if her heart had been ripped out of her chest. Her eyes flew open and a blinding white light flooded her vision. She sputtered and gasped for breath as she sat up. Her vision was blurry and sounds were muffled, but she felt warm, yet firm hands resting on body as she tried to pull herself to her feet. A soothing voice murmured unintelligible words to her. Her body stilled, her senses sharpened, and her breath evened out.

When her eyes focused, she saw she was wearing a light blue hospital gown and was lying in a soft white bed in a long term ward on what she thought was the fourth floor of St. Mungo's. Three healers in standard lime green robes stood around the bed and studied her with concerned gazes. On the table next to her sat several pictures of her family and friends laughing and vase full fresh juniper flowers. She slipped her hand over her torso and felt a gaunt frame under her gown and an alarmingly flat stomach.

"Why am I here!? What happened!?" she croaked. Her dry throat protested her speech with sharp pain as she broke out in to sputtering coughs.

"It's alright dear," the matronly lead healer said in the same soothing tone from earlier. "You were brought in several months ago. You had some nasty injuries from a cruciatus curse. You were already in a comatose state when you arrived. We treated your injuries and set you in here."

"What happened? Is anyone here for me? Where are my family and my baby? Can I have my wand so I can contact my family?" Juniper rasped before another spasm of coughs commenced. One of the healers stepped forward and brought a cup of water to her lips. She took sips of it and sighed as the cool liquid soothed her aching throat.

The motherly healer exchanged uneasy glances with her coworkers. As Juniper waited for her response, her mind replayed her most recent memories.

_Dark shadows danced on the forest floor as a breeze whispered through the trees. Juniper shivered in the cold night air with fear at what was to come. She closed her eyes to compose herself, clutching her wand and potions kit tighter against the growing bump on her stomach. She needed to be calm when they returned. Some were bound to have injuries and she would need to heal them. Her thoughts wandered to the previous evening that she had spent with her family: Her sister's warm laugh, her brother-in-law's silly jokes, the gurgling coos of her precious nephew, her fiancé's warm hand rubbing her bump. She opened her eyes with a slight smile on her face, one hand sliding across her stomach as her little one nudged her inside. Thoughts of her family always calmed her without fail. She looked around, ready and waiting for members of the group to return to camp with the injured. Her body tensed when she heard a twig snap behind her. She grabbed her wand and spun around to see her was sneaking up on her, but it was too late. A swish of black robes and the glint of a silver mask flashed before her eyes before an unbearable pain ripped through her body. She fell to the ground and let out an agonized screech, her body contorting at unnatural angles. She heard a jeering voice, one that she had come to hate, taunting her through the haze on agony. It went on for what seemed like hours. She was starting to slip from conciseness when different voices came into her field of hearing. There was an angry shout, yelling, bangs, and a terrified cry. Frantic hands took hold of her body and a face with flashing green eyes and fiery red hair loomed over her. Then all faded to black._

"Well dear," the matronly healer's voice roused her from her revelry. "You've had several friends come through here. A rather loud red head with a brood of children came to see you a lot and elderly wizard came as well."

"Has anyone else come? Where are you keeping my baby? And can I please have my wand back?" Her hands nervously fisted the bed sheets without the feeling of her wand in her hands.

"My dear, you've just woken up after being in coma for several months. Your body was very badly damaged by the curse. You should rest for a bit—"

"What's happened? Please tell me." She choked out. Her heart beat sped up and sweat tricked down her back. Her breathing picked up again and her lungs screamed in protest.

"My dear, please calm down. There is some happy news. He-who-must-not-be-named has been defeated."

Her eyes widened and she froze before smiling and letting out a shaky laugh. However, just as quickly, her face contorted into an expression of confusion and then alarm "How? If he's gone then why isn't my family here? Where is my baby? Can you please give me my wand back so I can contact someone? "

"Your wand… I'm afraid it was shattered when it was brought in with you my dear. You also…it seems... you've lost your baby and your ability to do magic."

Juniper stared at her in shock. Panic took hold and she started to hyperventilate. The healers rushed forward to hold her down as the matronly one poured a potion down her throat. She screamed in agony, pain, and confusion as she struggled against their grip. Her body jolted in pain, and then a gentle, calming numbness overtook her. Darkness overtook her once more.

When Juniper roused to consciousness a couple hours later, she found she was not alone with strange healers in her section of the ward, but with a man she knew quite well. A tall old wizard with a long white beard and garbed long blue robes sat in a chair next to her bed. His blue eyes that normally twinkled with cleverness and wisdom gazed upon her with great sadness.

"Hello Miss Evans."

"Dumbledore! What's going on? Is Voldemort really gone? Where are…"

Dumbledore held up a hand in a gentle gesture for silence. Juniper pursed her dry lips and looked beseechingly at the old man.

"Please calm yourself Juniper. You have survived great trauma to your body and mind. Harry is safe with your sister Petunia and her husband."

"Harry is safe? I don't understand why he would be in any danger. The healers said I've been out for several months. What—"

"You have been out for quite a while indeed. You were brought in back in July. It is now November 7th. Several very serious things have happened while you were in coma. You must remain calm as I explain the situation."

Juniper gulped and nodded, her hand cradling a bump that was no longer there.

"There was an attack about a week ago. Voldemort was destroyed by your nephew and he is be called the Boy Who Lived."

TBC

**AN: Thank you for checking for checking out the first chapter of this story. Any thoughts or comments you have about it would be lovely and really helpful. I'd love to know what you think! Thanks again for checking this story out! I'll posting next chapter in about a week. You all are great and don't let anyone let you think otherwise! ;)**

**-darkwolf76**


	2. Smoking Toasters and Magical flowers

**AN: Hello again! I know I said that it was going to be another week before I posted another chapter, but I'm just so excited about this story that I couldn't stop writing. There are a couple of details about the upcoming chapter and the rest of the coming story that I want to clarify. I will be sticking largely to cannon, although there might be some big twists later on. The story will be told following the general cannon timeline with flashbacks to the marauder era. Flashbacks will be italicized and present time will be normal font. Thank you to all of you who reviewed, favorited, or followed this story, and this chapter is for you. I don't own any characters, settings, or situations from Harry Potter.**

_**Five Years Later**_

Juniper sighed as she tried once more to fashion her hair into a bun. She pursed her lips into a frown and studied the misshapen twist in the mirror, rebellious wisps of mousy brown hair flying out in every direction. The alarm on her watch sounded, letting her know that very soon her personal time would come to an end because the little person down the hall would demand all her attention. She whipped her messy curls back into a low ponytail, splashed cold water on her face, and jogged back into her room to throw a pair of sweats on.

She bustled about the kitchen, trying to prepare breakfast, when a little head with messy black hair popped around the corner. "Morning sweetheart," she called with a small smile. Six-year-old Harry Potter walked in clutching a ratty blue blanket to his chest.

"Can I help Aunt June?" The little boy asked. Harry had always been a sweet boy, so kind and helpful.

'_Just like his mother,'_ June thought to herself with a sad wistfulness, glancing at a picture hanging on the wall.

"Of course Harry, why don't you make the toast? One piece for me and one for you. We'll have some eggs with it, seem good?"

"Okay! Can I have mine scrambled?"

"Sure sweetheart."

"Thanks Aunt June!"

Juniper chuckled to herself as the little boy bounced with enthusiasm over to the toaster, dragging the blue blanket behind him. She turned her attention back to the eggs on the stove and half-heartedly stirred the yellow yolks around the hissing skillet. Her eyes then strayed back over to the picture on the wall. Two little girls, one with sleek red hair and the other with frizzy mousy curls, wore huge toothy grins and clung to each other laughing as a swarm of colorful butterflies flew around them.

* * *

><p><em>The sun was shining brightly but the air still had a cool breeze, so Mary and Jay Evans had decided to take advantage of that last weekend of lovely spring weather. They had taken their little girls to picnic in Cokeworth Central Park. After a pleasant meal, Jay had fallen asleep on the picnic blanket, nine-year-old Petunia had set to work on yet another crocheting project, and Mary had gotten lost in a good book. Seven-year-old Juniper had every intention of getting lost in her book too; she had gotten to a particularly good part where the wizard Merlin was about to reveal the fate of...<em>

"_Junie, Junie!" Lily poked her twin sister eagerly. "It's such a pretty day! Let's go exploring!" _

_Juniper looked longingly at her book, but, with just one glance at her sister's imploring green eyes, she knew she couldn't turn her down. "Okay." _

_Lily clapped her hands excitedly and then turned towards their older sister. "Tunney, do you want to come too? We're going to see if we can find any cool animals in the woods." _

_Petunia looked up at the two green eyed little girls and bit her lip indecision. Juniper knew Petunia never liked getting dirty, but she didn't like being left behind by her two little sisters either. She glanced at their mother, who had turned her attention away from her book to give her assent._

"_Go ahead dears. Just remember to stay within earshot of the picnic grounds, and don't do anything to hurt yourselves."_

_So the three sisters set off towards the thicket that bordered the picnic grounds to see what great beasts they could find on their grand expedition. Unfortunately, all seemed quiet in the small section of woods, no fantastical beasts to be found anywhere. Petunia very quickly lost interest in the outing and regretting leaving her crocheting._

"_Let's go back to the picnic area. There's nothing here but nasty dirt and bugs."_

"_But Tunney—" _

"_No Lily! It's gross out here and very boring. Look, you have mud all over your dress, and Junie's hair—"_

"_Tunney, can we please just go a bit further?" Juniper quietly inquired. "I don't know, but I think if we just go a little bit further, we'll find something really pretty." Her green eyes sparkled with sense of knowing and hidden mischief._

_Petunia scowled at her. "How would you know? We've never been in these woods before. Anyways, I don't want to go tracking through more nasty dirt—"_

"_I smell flowers, Tunney. I think we might find something really pretty if we just keep walking." Juniper murmured._

"_Oh! I can smell them too Tunney! Junie's right! Don't you want to see some pretty flowers? We could pick some for mam."_

_Petunia again bit her lip, like she did whenever she was conflicted. "Well, it would be nice to pick mummy some flowers. I suppose walking a little further wouldn't hurt. We're already dirty anyways."_

_Sure enough, once the girls crossed over the small hill and through the thin tree line, they did find flowers: a beautiful, sunny, little clearing filled with yellow and white wildflowers in full bloom. Lily was the first plunge into the sweet smelling brush. She let out a little squeal of delight and the rushed into the flowers, giggling and dancing among the fragrant flora. Petunia looked around the clearing with amazement in her eyes as a small smile crossed her face. She turned to Juniper. "I'm glad we didn't go back Junie. This place is really pretty." She led her little sister by the hand to the edge of the flowers, reached down and picked little daisy clean off its stem and tucked behind her sister's ear, securing in her frizzy brown curls. _

"_Tunney, Junie, come dance with me!" Lily called. She leaped and twirled like a little ballerina, her fiery red hair glinting in the sun rays that came down through the trees. Petunia and Juniper smiled at one another before taking each other's hands and running into the flowers to join their sister. The spun, leaped, twirled, danced, and ran for what seemed like hours. _

"_Bet you can't get me!" Lily taunted her two siblings. _

"_I can!" Juniper called back. Both little girls giggled madly as the chase commenced. Juniper caught up to Lily and grabbed at her. Both girls were extremely dizzy from dancing and running in circles and lost their balance. They toppled into a giggling heap. When they sat up, though, Lily stopped laughing, a look of wonder crossing her face. She reached out and took the little yellow flower that Petunia had placed in Juniper's hair. The little yellow petals moved and fluttered before taking off into the air. Somehow, the flower had changed into a butterfly. _

"_How did you do that?" Lily gasped. _

"_I don't know. Maybe the flowers are magical?" They stared at each other for a long moment, sharing a look of shock and wonderment in their matching green eyes. Juniper, wanting to test her hunch, reached out and grabbed fists full of yellow and white petals and tossed them into the air. _

_The twins let out shrieks of delight as the petals all switched and fluttered and then took flight. They gathered several more handfuls of petals and tossed them into the air. Their sister walked over to them with a look of utter astonishment on her face as she looked at swarm of butterflies coming to life around her younger siblings. "How did you-? Where did-?"_

"_Tunney, they're magical flowers! The flower you put into Junie's hair turned into a butterfly. Grab some flowers and throw them in the air. You'll make butterflies too!" Lily giggled._

_Petunia reached out tore a flower from its stem. She tore it up and then tossed the petals into the air just as her sisters had. Her look of excitement faded to disappointment as they fluttered to the ground._

"_It's alright, Tunney! Try again!" Lily brightly encouraged as she reached for more petals herself. Juniper had stopped making her petal butterflies and was watching the exchange between the sisters. Lily and Petunia kept grabbing petals and throwing them in the air. She watched as Lily's expression grew increasingly more excited while Petunia's grew angrier. Finally, it all became too much for the nine-year-old. _

"_Stop squealing like a dirty little pig!" Petunia screeched at the oblivious redhead. "It was stupid idea to come to this place. I should have never listened to you two. Now I'm all dirty and it's entirely your fault!"_

_The little blond ran out of clearing with tears in her eyes, her little twin sisters looking at each other in silence. "Why did she get so mad Junie? We were having so much fun." Lily asked Juniper in sad bewilderment._

"_She wasn't having fun with us Lily. The flowers weren't magical for her." _

"_Oh." Lily now looked like she was about to cry. Juniper very quickly reached for some more petals and tossed them in the air._

"_They are pretty Lily. See? We were having fun. Tunney was just sad that she couldn't do this with us." _

_Lily giggled in delight as more butterflies flitted through the air and she reached and hugged Juniper. A flash of light flickered in the corner of Juniper's eye as she hugged her sister back. "Isn't that precious!" their mother exclaimed as she walked up to them clutching a camera. "Petunia came back to picnic are, just as I was about to come find you girls. She told me what happened, and when I imagined you two in flowers surrounded by butterflies, I knew I had capture this moment!"_

* * *

><p>The smell of something burnt broke Juniper from her thoughts.<p>

"Aunt June, I didn't mean to burn the toast!" Harry looked at his aunt with an alarmed look on his face. The little boy sat on a stool next to the counter with his hands on the smoking silver toaster _that wasn't plugged in._ Juniper quickly walked across the kitchen, snatched the smoking appliance from the counter, and set it on the patio out back so the smoke alarm wouldn't go off. She came back into the kitchen to find a very sad and frustrated looking Harry. "I didn't mean to burn the toast Aunt June! Honest! I just wanted to make really, really, really crispy toast, and I was real excited that I got to fix it, and then the toaster started—"

Juniper let out a laugh and pulled her nephew into a hug. "It's alright, Harry. You're a little wizard and these little things happen. It's just your magic showing itself. It's nothing bad."

"But I didn't mean to do it! Just like I didn't mean to turn Ms. Tompkins wig blue last week. I just looked at it thought it would be really funny if it was blue, and then it was!"

Juniper laughed even harder when she when she recalled the incident with Harry's teacher the previous week. It was right during the middle of a parent teacher conference too. Harry and she were the only ones in the room with the old batty. It was quiet the mess to clean up, much more so than a smoking toaster! She had to even have to owl someone from the ministry to obliviate the old woman's memories. That had been a long day, but the expression on the woman's face when her wig had changed had been hilarious. She could see Harry was sufficiently confused and distressed though, so she calmed down and beckoned him to come sit with her at the table. Once they sat down, she pulled Harry's chair so it was facing hers and enclosed his hand in hers.

"I know you didn't mean for these things to happen, Harry, and they aren't you fault. Every young witch and wizard goes through this. It's called underage magic. Tiny little incidents will happen, like changing wigs and smoking toasters, without you meaning for them to happen. It's just sign that you have magic in you. When you turn eleven, you'll get a letter from Hogwarts, you'll get a wand, and you'll be able to go there to learn how to control your magic. All of this iw a really good thing Harry." She smiled reassuringly and gave his tiny hand a gentle squeeze.

Harry's eyes lit up on the mention of Hogwarts and his worry over his little incidents was forgotten. "Oh, so you went through it too? And mum and dad? What was the first underage magic that you and mum did, Aunt June?"

Juniper laughed once more at her nephew's antics, and got up and walked over to cupboard. "Let me fix us some bowls of cereal for breakfast, Harry, and then I'll tell all about our incident with the magical flowers…"

Several hours later Juniper reentered the house after taking Harry to primary school. After she had told Harry the story of the magical flowers and shown him the picture, he had been asking her questions nonstop about other incidents of underage magic and the first year of Hogwarts as she got him ready and then took him to school. The last few he had asked her before he got out of the car were particularly hard for her to hear.

"_Aunt June, if every witch and wizard gets a wand when they go to Hogwarts, why don't you use yours?"_

"_It broke, sweetheart, so I couldn't use it anymore."_

"_Why didn't you get a new one then? How can you control your magic without it? Why don't you use magic around the house?"_

"_I don't have any magic."_

"_But you and mum-"_

"_Harry, sweet, you need to run along now and go to class. Don't be late."_

"_But-"_

"_Harry, it was okay for you to burn toast in a smoking toaster, but it is not okay for you to get a tardy slip."_

The little boy had murmured a quick farewell and slipped out of the vehicle.

Juniper wearily made her way to her room to get ready for work, stopping on her way to stare at the picture of the little Lily and Juniper hugging in the field of "magical flowers".

As soon as entered her room, she went over to her chest and dug out a small lock box. She grabbed a small silver key from a chain around her neck and unlocked the little container. Her hands shook as she lifted the lid and she gazed over the contents inside: a couple of broken chunks rowan wood and a tiny sliver hair, an engagement ring, a pacifier, and two moving pictures. One contained a laughing Lily bouncing a baby Harry on her hip as he reached out to touch the growing bump on a laughing Juniper. The next was a family photo: James, Lily, and Harry in the back, herself, her fiancé, and her bump in the front. This little box contained reminders of everything in her life that had been broken, and everything that should have been that wasn't.

"It shouldn't have been me telling him the magical flower story today Lily. It should have been you." She whispered. She didn't bother to wipe the tear that ran down her cheek.

* * *

><p>"<em>There was an attack about a week ago. Voldemort was destroyed by your nephew and he is being called the Boy Who Lived."<em>

_Juniper let out a strangled and hysterical laugh, one hand rubbing the bump that was no longer there. "The Boy Who Lived? What exactly did he live through sir? And how could an infant kill Voldemort? Where are Lily and James? Where is-_

"_Voldemort found out Lily and James's location. They were betrayed. He went to eliminate young Harry because he believes him to be the chosen one. Your sister and brother-in-law died defending Harry. Somehow the killing curse meant for him backfired and hit Voldemort. He's vanished. Harry was the only one alive found in the wreckage of the house. He's been taken to your other sister for his safety. Your fiancé-"_

"_Stop. No more." Juniper stared at old wizard with dead green eyes and an expressionless face. Both hands rested protectively over the bump that should have been there and one hand twisted the engagement band on the other. Her head started shaking back and forth slowly. "This isn't real. It's just a bad dream. I'll wake up soon and everything will be fine" she said in an eerily calm tone._

"_Juniper…"_

"_Please… just…. Let me believe it's a dream tonight and just sleep on it. If I wake in the morning and you come back and tell me the same thing I'll accept it all as reality and deal with it. Just… not…right now."_

"_Of course. Have a good night's sleep and I'll return to discuss matters with you in the morning. I really sorry for your loss, my dear. I and your other friends in the Order will do all we can to assist you in this difficult time. Rest well." The wise wizard got up and gave Juniper's shoulder a sympathetic before exiting the ward._

_She curled into a fetal position on her side and closed her eyes, whispering to herself the mantra "It's just a bad dream "over and over again until she passed out from exhaustion._

_During the middle of the night, when the ward was dark and long after all the visitors had been ushered out, a gentle hand caressing her cheek roused her to wakefulness. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw familiar pair of eyes and a gentle smile that she had awoken to many times before. 'It was all just a bad dream,' she thought happily. One hand reached out to grasp the hand of her lover and the other ran down her body to rub her little bump. When she only felt flat skin, she froze. She looked up into those eyes again and saw they shined with a look of agonizing despair and haggard dark rings underlined them._

"_Hey Nip." A ragged voice whispered._

TBC

**AN: Hopped you enjoyed it! I'll try to post another chapter in a week. Please leave reviews and share your thoughts!**


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